Timmons-Mayhall - Person Sheet
Timmons-Mayhall - Person Sheet
NamePURVIS, Frances Camille 
Birth Date25 Sep 1929
Birth PlaceCorinth, Alcorn County, Mississippi
Death Date25 May 2002 Age: 72
Death PlaceTupelo, Lee County, Mississippi
Misc. Notes
Frances Camille Purvis Reed, co-recipient of CREATE Foundation's 2001 McLean Award for Philanthropy, died Saturday morning at her residence in Tupelo.
Frances, 72, was the wife of Jack R. Reed, a statewide civic leader and nationally recognized advocate for public education.
Her interests included environmental preservation and conservation, a love of music, gardening, and commitment to and involvement in the activities of her four children during their childhood and adolescence.
"She was a lifelong environmentalist. She had a real love of nature and of flowers," Jack Reed said. She was a member and supporter of several national and regional conservation organizations.
Her family, in partnership with the Natchez Trace Parkway, donated the Frances Purvis Reed Outdoor Classroom and Amphitheater in a wooded area near the parkway's headquarters office on the Trace in Tupelo. The classroom has been used by thousands of students studying the ecology of the region and the history of the parkway, a unit of the National Parks System.Reed also was an avid stargazer who observed rare and periodic celestial phenomena like comets and unusual alignments of the planets and earth's moon.
During the 1960s, when the stresses of desegregation threatened the survival of public schools, Reed served as vice president of the statewide Mississippi Women for Public Education. That period paralleled years of commitment in the PTA organizations at her children's schools, volunteer service for the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and as a parent-mentor for sports and extracurricular activities.
"I would have to say her primary commitment was to her family," Jack Reed said.
Betsy Caldwell Campbell, a lifelong Reed family friend and an age peer of her children, said poise, grace and hospitality were defining qualities of Frances Reed's personality.
"She always was just great with all of us. She was always gracious and loving with her children's friends, and a lot of us were in and out of her home almost every day. She remained genuinely interested in us and our families as we grew up and married. She was such a lady. There was a special way about how she conducted herself - about the way she entertained, which was perfection. She always made everyone feel at ease," Campbell said.
She graduated with honors from Ward Belmont College in Nashville, where she was president of her class, May Queen and Ensemble Girl. She attended the University of Mississippi, where she was a member of Chi Omega sorority.
Frances, a Corinth native, married Jack Reed, a young Tupelo businessman, in 1950.
A lifelong Methodist, Reed had a long association with the Altar Guild at First United Methodist Church in Tupelo. The guild was primarily responsible for making and donating the extensive, richly symbolic needle art in the church's chancel and choir - and for the aesthetic standards maintained in the historic sanctuary structure, the oldest brick building in Tupelo.
Reed traveled extensively and had visited all the continents. One wall in her home was filled with distinctive souvenirs reflecting the scores of places she visited with her husband, family and friends.
She also was a member of the Fortnightly Matinée Club and the Tupelo Junior Auxiliary; she was a former member of the Tupelo Symphony Orchestra board of directors.
She is survived by her husband, four children, and eight grandchildren.
Frances, 72, was the wife of Jack R. Reed, a statewide civic leader and nationally recognized advocate for public education.
Her interests included environmental preservation and conservation, a love of music, gardening, and commitment to and involvement in the activities of her four children during their childhood and adolescence.
"She was a lifelong environmentalist. She had a real love of nature and of flowers," Jack Reed said. She was a member and supporter of several national and regional conservation organizations.
Her family, in partnership with the Natchez Trace Parkway, donated the Frances Purvis Reed Outdoor Classroom and Amphitheater in a wooded area near the parkway's headquarters office on the Trace in Tupelo. The classroom has been used by thousands of students studying the ecology of the region and the history of the parkway, a unit of the National Parks System.Reed also was an avid stargazer who observed rare and periodic celestial phenomena like comets and unusual alignments of the planets and earth's moon.
During the 1960s, when the stresses of desegregation threatened the survival of public schools, Reed served as vice president of the statewide Mississippi Women for Public Education. That period paralleled years of commitment in the PTA organizations at her children's schools, volunteer service for the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and as a parent-mentor for sports and extracurricular activities.
"I would have to say her primary commitment was to her family," Jack Reed said.
Betsy Caldwell Campbell, a lifelong Reed family friend and an age peer of her children, said poise, grace and hospitality were defining qualities of Frances Reed's personality.
"She always was just great with all of us. She was always gracious and loving with her children's friends, and a lot of us were in and out of her home almost every day. She remained genuinely interested in us and our families as we grew up and married. She was such a lady. There was a special way about how she conducted herself - about the way she entertained, which was perfection. She always made everyone feel at ease," Campbell said.
She graduated with honors from Ward Belmont College in Nashville, where she was president of her class, May Queen and Ensemble Girl. She attended the University of Mississippi, where she was a member of Chi Omega sorority.
Frances, a Corinth native, married Jack Reed, a young Tupelo businessman, in 1950.
A lifelong Methodist, Reed had a long association with the Altar Guild at First United Methodist Church in Tupelo. The guild was primarily responsible for making and donating the extensive, richly symbolic needle art in the church's chancel and choir - and for the aesthetic standards maintained in the historic sanctuary structure, the oldest brick building in Tupelo.
Reed traveled extensively and had visited all the continents. One wall in her home was filled with distinctive souvenirs reflecting the scores of places she visited with her husband, family and friends.
She also was a member of the Fortnightly Matinée Club and the Tupelo Junior Auxiliary; she was a former member of the Tupelo Symphony Orchestra board of directors.
She is survived by her husband, four children, and eight grandchildren.
Spouses
Birth Date19 May 1924
Birth PlaceTupelo, Lee County, Mississippi
Death Date27 Jan 2016 Age: 91
Death PlaceTupelo, Lee County, Mississippi
OccupationRetail and Politics
FatherREED, Robert Wylie Sr. (1879-1956)
MotherRAYMOND, Hoyt A. (1896-1982)
Misc. Notes
Jack Raymond Reed, Sr. (May 19, 1924 – January 27, 2016), was an American businessman and politician from his native Tupelo, Mississippi.
Reed graduated from Vanderbilt University. He then received his master's degree in retailing from New York University. Reed returned home to help with his family's department store. Reed was president of the Mississippi Economic Council in 1962. In 1984, Reed was appointed to the Mississippi Board of Education.
He was the 1987 Mississippi Republican gubernatorial nominee. He defeated Doug Lemon in his party's primary election. Reed then lost the general election to Democrat Ray Mabus.
Nevertheless, Reed's 47 percent of the vote was encouraging to his party. He fared better than his Republican predecessors Rubel Phillips in 1963 and 1967, Gil Carmichael in 1975 and 1979 and Leon Bramlett in 1983. In 1991, the Mississippi GOP won the governorship for the first time since Reconstruction with the election of businessman Kirk Fordice, who unseated Mabus.
Reed is the subject of several books. His son, Jack Reed, Jr., is a past mayor of their hometown of Tupelo.
Reed graduated from Vanderbilt University. He then received his master's degree in retailing from New York University. Reed returned home to help with his family's department store. Reed was president of the Mississippi Economic Council in 1962. In 1984, Reed was appointed to the Mississippi Board of Education.
He was the 1987 Mississippi Republican gubernatorial nominee. He defeated Doug Lemon in his party's primary election. Reed then lost the general election to Democrat Ray Mabus.
Nevertheless, Reed's 47 percent of the vote was encouraging to his party. He fared better than his Republican predecessors Rubel Phillips in 1963 and 1967, Gil Carmichael in 1975 and 1979 and Leon Bramlett in 1983. In 1991, the Mississippi GOP won the governorship for the first time since Reconstruction with the election of businessman Kirk Fordice, who unseated Mabus.
Reed is the subject of several books. His son, Jack Reed, Jr., is a past mayor of their hometown of Tupelo.
Marr Date1950